XEROX WINS ORDER ON FUNDS FOR HART

AP

Published: December 30, 1987

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29—
The Xerox Corporation won a court order today that would seize Federal funds earmarked for Gary Hart's renewed bid for the Presidency. The money would be used to satisfy a debt left over from the Democrat's 1984 campaign.

The effect of the ruling by the District of Columbia Superior Court on the transfer of $100,000 in Federal campaign funds to Mr. Hart, approved on Monday, was not clear.

The court order to pay off the $10,480 debt to Xerox actually was served on the Federal Election Commission, which does not possess the money. In certifying Mr. Hart as eligible for matching campaign funds, it told the United States Treasury to issue the check. Spokesmen for the election commission had no comment on the order. $1.3 Million Owed From '84 Mr. Hart's 1984 campaign ended with $1.3 million in debts. His bid for the nomination in 1988 has raised the legal issue of who should pay his old bills.

Warren Rosenfeld, a Washington attorney for Xerox, said the 1984 Hart campaign owed the company $10,480 plus interest for copier rental fees. Xerox sued and won a judgment that the Hart campaign did not oppose.

When the election commission certified Mr. Hart on Monday, Mr. Rosenfeld said it was time to move.

''We thought we would take a shot and filed an attachment order rather hurriedly,'' he said.

Mr. Rosenfeld said he was uncertain whether the Federal Election Commission could be required to hold up the payment to Mr. Hart, or whether 1988 campaign funds could be attached to pay 1984 bills.

''We had hit a brick wall on everything else,'' he said.

Technically, he said, the order requires the F.E.C. to tell the court within 10 days whether it has any money owed to Mr. Hart. If it does, Xerox then can ask the court to seize the money.

If the F.E.C. did have control of Mr. Hart's money, Mr. Rosenfeld said, the commission could not send it to the Hart campaign without violating the order. Earlier Suits Filed

Mr. Hart's campaign early this year, before he dropped out in May, was dogged by lawsuits and court actions relating to the 1984 debts. At one point, Federal marshals seized the receipts from a Hart fund-raising event, but the money was returned when the court decided the 1988 funds could not be used to pay off the 1984 debts.

After he withdrew, Mr. Hart asked the F.E.C. if the 1988 matching money could be used to pay the earlier bills. But his request for an opinion was withdrawn and Hart aides say a decision on a new request will come this week.